


Affairs of the Heart

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Series: A Study in Soulbonds (Unrelated Works) [5]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Heartbeats, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: Hal's soulmate keeps dying.It would be more irritating if it wasn't so distressing every damn time.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Series: A Study in Soulbonds (Unrelated Works) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687879
Comments: 4
Kudos: 187





	Affairs of the Heart

Hal's soulmate had brushed death - met it, some would say - more than was healthy or even ordinary since Hal's birth. 

Every few years since Hal had been a teenager, his soulmate's heart stopped. 

Hal had seen it happen three times, but there may have been more, he didn't keep his arm uncovered at all times. 

The first time, Hal was playing basketball with some friends. He was fifteen. His friend James had thrown him the ball… and Hal had dropped it when he had caught sight of his own arm. 

The line there was unusually flat. 

"Hey, Jordan !" James had called indignantly but Hal had ran away from the field, ran until his sneakers sank into wet sand, until seawater licked his ankles. He had felt to his knees and shivered despite the warmth. 

Only then had he stopped running. His eyes were stinging as he looked straight at the horizon, but it wasn't for the sun. 

He had raised his shaky arm. Only to see that the line was as moving as always. 

Hal had often wondered if the still line had only been a trick of his imagination. 

The second time he had noticed the straight, unmoving line, he had been driving and almost totaled his car.

Well, the newspapers would have loved this story : soulmates' heartbeats stopping at the same time. Unfortunately for them, Hal had good reflexes and managed to park roadside. 

He kept his eyes riveted on his arm, counting seconds. How long could a heart stop without depriving the brain from oxygen too much, again ? Five minutes ? Less ?

Well, Hal was pretty sure it was more than the almost minute - plus the seconds it had taken for Hal to park the car safely - his soulmate stayed dead. 

"You know you're a mess, right ?" Hal had said, glaring at the line undulating happily on his skin like it had never flattened. Hal hated his soulmate.

Not long after, Hal had integrated the Justice League. 

His soulmate heart rate was slow most of the time, slower than most people’s, Hal could tell. He was no expert, but he had seen many heart rates transcribed on many arms before. 

Slow heart rates were more common among athletes, and Hal had no doubt it was more common in the League too. He tried not to think too much about it. Some alien species had lower heart rates too, that didn’t mean his soulmate was not human. Better not to draw conclusions hastily. 

There were more interesting things to do than pining after your soulmate after all : exploring space on diplomatic missions, fighting bad guys, imagining fantastic constructs in being, hanging out with Barry or some Lantern friends, messing with Bruce when they were both having monitor duty at the same time…

Speaking of which… Arthur had been quite unhappy about Hal’s late arrival. Clark had left early because of some emergency in Metropolis and Arthur had a date planned with Mera or something. 

Hal apologized, wondering who was supposed to take this shift with him and why they weren’t already here as Arthur made him a quick report - nothing was wrong, keep looking, bye - before going back to the Ocean. 

Hal had been there for about thirty minutes and was starting to worry for his teammates. A long absence was rarely a good sign in their profession, if you could call their activities so. 

Possibly his shift partner had just forgotten the hour, but it seemed unlikely. You couldn’t just forget you had monitor duty. Hal had been late because he had been taking a communication from the Corps, not because he was dawdling in the city. 

He checked the schedule and his blood ran cold. The calendar was carefully updated regularly according to everyone’s obligations. Everyone could update it, but the task was usually left to Bruce. Bruce, whose alias was right next to Hal’s on the planner for this shift. 

As far as Hal remembered, the only time Bruce hadn’t made it on time at the Watchtower for his shift was the night his son died. 

So, yes, he felt a bit worried. He tried Bruce’s comms without success. Maybe he should try Clark's. 

“Superman, Lantern here. Any news about Bats ?” 

Clark grunted, it was probably a bad time. He wouldn’t have left Arthur in the Watchtower alone if it wasn’t an emergency, truth be told. 

“He has monitor duty.” he said and he sounded eager to get rid of Hal.

He must have spent too much time with Bruce lately. Strangely, Hal didn’t like the idea that much. Why should he care if the two men spent time together when they weren’t on missions ? It was none of his business. 

“Well, me too and he’s not there.” he snapped. 

He groaned. He was in a bad mood but he shouldn’t take it on Clark, not only because the man was basically a Nice Guy ™, but because the guy could kill in a blink in thousands different ways and he shouldn’t piss him off. 

“Give me five more minutes here and I’ll check on him.” Clark answered, and Hal perceived worry in his voice. 

“Thanks. Let me know what’s going on.”

After, Hal had waited anxiously. He had taken his gloves off maybe half a hour later, just in time to notice a flat line on his skin for the third time. 

“Fuck. You better come back, asshole. I’ve already enough stuff to stress over without you adding to the goddamn pile.”

He started counting, but he had no idea how long the line had been that way. Thirty-two seconds later, the oscillations were back. 

Hal managed to breathe with more ease but he was still worried about Bruce as time passed and Clark didn’t call him back. He had asked Barry to take Bruce’s shift but the Flash didn’t know anything useful.

They waited together for three more hours before Clark called back, and Hal had never been more grateful for a peaceful night in their corner of the universe because he doubted he would have been wholly efficient in such a night.

His soulmate dying always had a disastrous effect on his mind, and Bruce’s sudden disappearance wasn’t helping. Well, he was probably not dead or else Superman would have warned them sooner. 

“Lantern ?” the voice on the comms he recognized as Superman's said in his ear. 

“Yes ?”

“Batman is alright. He’ll need rest but he made it.” Clark said, and he sounded tired. 

“I - that’s great.” Hal said, because what else could he have said ? 

Barry looked relieved too. Somehow, they all had become kind of friends along the way. 

“He was in a bad shape when I found him. If you hadn’t called… He flatlined on Dr Thompkins’ operation table, you know ? If he had done so in that warehouse without medical assistance, there’s no telling -”

Hal zoned out from there. Bruce was fine. He could concentrate back on the screens in front of him. He made the appropriate noises at the appropriate places and soon enough the conversation ended.

Barry looked at him strangely and Hal told him what Clark had said - well, the part he had listened to, anyway. 

It was only once they had finished their shifts and Hal was back into his flat, ready to get under his bedsheets and sleep for a few hours that he realized how uncanny both his soulmate and Bruce flatlining in the same night was. He shook his head and fell asleep the second his head touched the pillow. 

When he woke up, Hal didn’t find it uncanny anymore. He could try to get more information about the time Bruce flatlined - when, exactly, for example - from Clark but it didn’t sit right with him. 

He could also ask Bruce. Maybe not when the man was recovering from a very bad night, but later. 

So when Bruce asked him to use his ring on some alien inscriptions he found in Gotham after the next League meeting, two weeks later, Hal saw it as an opportunity to question him.

Once the ring had finished translating the inscriptions - and they should really look into this together, since it seemed aliens were selling some of their hallucinogenic healing plants to humans - , he had caught Bruce’s arm to prevent him to leave.

“Please, wait.”

Bruce had nodded tersely, and Hal had to wonder if he should have been more careful with his arm. Bruce hadn’t shared which injuries he had sustained with the class, unsurprisingly. 

“I am going to make some suppositions. I’d like to know if they are true. Stop me if I get anything wrong.” Hal said. 

“You flatlined at least three times in your life. The first time, you weren’t even an adult. The second time was years later but before the creation of the Justice League. And the third time was two weeks ago.”

“You’re wrong.” Bruce said quietly. “I was eighteen during the car crash. And the last time I died was the fourth time.” 

“Nothing to be proud of. Next time, before dying, think about the poor soulmate that may be witnessing it.” Hal said, crossing his arms on his chest.

“You’re acting like it’s personal.” Bruce replied, and he seemed surprised. 

Hal's gaze brightened with feeling.

“It becomes personal when you’re 15 and you think your soulmate just died in a permanent way, it’s personal when you have just become a Lantern and you think this time your soulmate is probably dead for real and it’s still personal when you’re waiting for news of your missing teammate and your goddamn soulmate dies again. It’s personal each time I see this line flattening and I can only hope it’s not the end for you.” he said, gritting his teeth. 

Bruce didn't even look apologetic, just curious. 

“I didn’t know you felt this strongly about it.” he said, tilting his head. 

Apparently he thought it was an interesting study in human feelings or something. Hal would have been able to feel offended if he wasn't already rather angry.

“That’s because I don’t make a habit of dying. You can’t imagine how many times I dreaded to find the line flat when I got out of my uniform or my flying suit.”

Hal's voice was tight.

“I am sorry, Hal. I would have prevented it if I could have.”

“Dying ? Or us being soulmates ?” Hal snortled, his hands closing into fists.

Bruce was notoriously shit at apologizing. Maybe it was because he didn't do it often enough. 

“No. I am sorry about you hurting.” Bruce said simply, and just like that, the anger left Hal to give place to tiredness and heartache.

He lowered his eyes.

“Truth is, when I didn’t see you at the Watchtower, I knew something bad must have happened and the feeling was the same than seeing this fucking straight line. I already felt like I was bleeding internally before seeing it, you can imagine how I felt once I saw my soulmate was in quite a predicament too.” 

“Not as bad as I felt.” Bruce said. 

It was meant to amuse Hal but the man tensed.

“Can we not joke about you dying ? I don’t think it’s as funny as you think it is.” he said.

Bruce made an aborted gesture towards him. Hal raised an eyebrow.

“Forgive me. I am not that good at heart-to-heart talks.”

For the first time since the start of their conversation, Hal smiled.

“You don’t tell. How did you find out ?”

“About us being soulmates ?” 

“Well, I expected you to freak out but you’ve kept your cool so far, so I assume you already knew.” Hal said, shrugging. 

His body was still tense despite his relaxed tone.

“I didn’t know.” Bruce said after a few seconds.

“And you have not ran away yet ? I wasn’t giving you enough credit. Or is it because your injuries are more extensive that you’re letting us know ?”

“My injuries are fine. I didn’t run away because I am relieved that it’s you.” 

Hal made a face, his eyebrows furrowing.

“I don’t understand.”

“Falling in love with someone who also happens to be your soulmate makes things easier.”

Hal bravely took a step forward.

“Big words you’re using.” he said.

Bruce didn't back away. But Hal hadn't expected him to.

“Big feelings we’re having.” Bruce said, insisting on the 'we'.

Hal chuckled.

"That was presumptuous." 

They were close enough to embrace but they were content enough just looking at each other. 

“Well, you’re drooling.That and your heartbeat is fastening.” Bruce said, showing Hal his arm.

Hal had not noticed him taking off his gauntlet and baring his arm. He laughed.

“Fair.” he said, and his eyes were smiling. 

“So, any chance you could be interested in a date ?”

“As long as you promise me the line on my arm isn’t going to look flatter than your chest anytime soon.” 

Bruce was still laughing when Hal kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~I have to know : was Heart and Soul too obvious or would it make for a better title ?~~  
> 
> 
> I could have changed the summary but thought I could learn something here so if you have the time, could you please help me out ?
> 
> So, quick grammar question from someone for whom English isn't the mother tongue : in the sentence "Hal keeps seeing the line symbolizing his soulmate's heart rate flatten." , is flatten (my first choice) correct or should it be flattening (I like it because it rhymes but it's wrong, yes ?) ?


End file.
